HALT and HASS

HALT and HASS
Test Equipment For Highly Accelerated
Life Test and Stress Screen Applications
Competence in temperature
and climate
Vötsch was founded in Berlin in 1929 and has produced at today's location
in Balingen-Frommern since 1944.
We at Vötsch develop and build test systems for quality assurance at the
state-of-the-art of technology and taking the future into account.
With our products, we also take on responsibility for the safety and quality
of products in many branches of industry. Since 1995, Vötsch has been a
member of the Schunk Group. Combined know-how is the basis for trendsetting developments.
HALT/HASS Systems
Highly Accelerated Life Test and
Stress Screen Applications
The goal of every manufacturing company is to bring a product of worldclass quality to market in the shortest time and for the least expense. On top
of that there is a further incentive to improve field reliability and lower warranty costs. Many manufacturers use HALT and HASS to help them achieve
these goals.
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Highly Accelerated Life Test and Stress Screen Applications
HALT is a step stress process performed during the product’s
prototype phase that determines a
product’s operating limits, identifies
design weaknesses, and identifies
weak components. The prototype
phase is the fastest and least expensive point to make improvements.
In the HALT process, the test sample
is subjected to progressively higher
stress levels. Thermal dwells, rapid
temperature transitions, vibration,
and a combination of temperature
and vibration are employed to precipitate latent, inherent defects in the
design, at the component level, or in
the manufacturing process.
Beyond the precipitation of defects,
HALT stresses the product sample
to failure. Robustness of design and
margin above the product’s intended operating level are determined.
HALT is not a pass/fail test. It is process of discovery and design optimization.
HASS is a post-production process
that can be performed on 100 % of
product or a partial sample of units
(HASA - Highly Accelerated Stress
Audit).
The benefits of HASS include:
The main goal of HASS is to precipitate and detect hidden or latent failures. It is used to verify that no new
“weak link” has crept into the product, since HALT, that has shifted
the limits found in HALT. Ultimately,
its purpose is to prevent flawed units
from reaching the end-user/customer.
Verifies integrity of mechanical
interconnects
Typically, HASS stress levels are less
than those used in HALT. However,
they are generally more severe than
anticipated in actual service. The
goal is to use enough stress to find
faults – but not enough to remove a
significant amount of the product’s
life.
Decreases warranty and field
service costs
Prevents flawed units from
reaching the end-user/customer
(infant mortality/out of box failure)
Detects changes in components
and processes
Exposes process related variations in manufacturing
Uncovers problems caused by
changes to both software and
firmware
Uncovers component supplier
quality issues and revision
changes
Increases customer satisfaction
HALT is a success when failures are
produced, the root cause is understood, corrective action is implemented and product limits are understood and expanded. Information
learned during the HALT process is
used to develop a HASS screen for
monitoring deviations in the manufacturing process.
HALT precipitated defects by stress environment
Vibration step stress
45%
Precipitates hidden or latent failures caused by poor workmanship or manufacturing processes
Rapid Temperature Transitions
4%
Cold step stress
14%
HASS precipitated defects by stress environment
Vibration
18%
Extreme Temperature
Transitions
12%
Low
Temperature
Extreme
12%
Hot step
stress
17%
Combination of
6DoF Vibration and
Rapid Temperature
20%
Combination
of 6DoF Vibration
and Rapid Temperature
46%
High
Temperature
Extreme
12%
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HALT-HASS Profiles
The HALT Process
In HALT, product prototypes are
subjected to high levels of environmental stress from least destructive
to most destructive. The HALT procedure employed will vary based on
the type of product being tested.
Typically these would be cold step
test, hot step test, thermal shock,
vibration and combined temperature
and vibration.
Along with environmental stresses,
product specific stresses should also
be applied to the product, such as
power cycling, line voltage margining,
line frequency margining, DC supply
voltage margining, output loading,
onboard oscillator margining and
any other applicable stresses.
Test repeatability is the ability to
reproduce a failure mode; however,
exact stress levels to produce the
failure may vary. Reproducing a failure mode at a specific stress level is
not expected or required. In HALT
what is important is the failure, not
the stress level.
Example:
Thermal Shock Portion of HALT
5 thermal cycles with thermal
change rates of 50 °C per minute
(or greater).
Rapid thermal cycling causes materials in the product to expand and
contract at different rates, inducing
stress and uncovering weak spots in
the design.
Example:
Vibration-Step Portion of HALT
Step stress vibration in 5 gRMS
increments, starting at 5 gRMS.
Once a diagnostic check has been
completed, vibration testing continues at the next level.
With our powerful StarView software, you have the ability to monitor
your product response as well as the
table vibration levels.
Example:
Combined Temperature and
Vibration Portion of HALT
Perform thermal cycles with
thermal change rates of 50 °C
per minute (or greater).
Increase in 20 % increments of
the operating limit. Dwell times of
15 minutes.
If no failure is produced, the rate of
temperature change is increased
and the vibration levels are increased.
Examples of typical HALT profiles
Example:
Temperature-Step Portion of
HALT
Cold or Hot step stresses in
10 °C steps
Power cycling performed at
minimum operating temperature
+10 °C.
Add power cycling and voltage
margining to find additional
failures. Voltage margins should
be tested beyond specifications
to expose design problems.
HALT and HASS profile graphs appear courtesy of Reliant Labs.
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HALT-HASS Profiles
When a failure occurs, the test is
stopped and the failure mode and
stress level is recorded. The failure is
identified and documented. Root
Cause Failure Analysis is employed.
Examples of typical HASS profiles
HASS Development
Proof of Screen
(POS) - 15 Runs
At this point a temporary “fix” is
implemented and the test continues
on to higher levels of stress to uncover more failures.
HALT testing stops when the limits
of the test equipment are met, when
multiple failures occur in rapid succession with small increases in the
stress level, or when the maximum
level of the materials or technology
has been reached.
Information learned from the HALT
test will provide the product’s operating limits and it may also provide
destruct limits.
The operational limit is defined as
the stress necessary to cause a product to malfunction, but the product
returns to normal operation when
the stress is removed. The destruct
limit is the stress necessary to cause
a permanent or “hard” failure.
The difference between these limits
is the margin for that particular
stress. As the failure modes are
found and eliminated, the limits are
pushed further and further out,
maximizing margins and increasing
the product’s life and reliability.
HASS Profile
The HASS Process
The HASS procedure employed will
vary based on the type of product
being tested. HASS is not just a test,
it is a process – each product has its
own process.
Problems uncovered may range
from manufacturing mistakes to
supplier quality issues. Root Cause
Failure Analysis is performed on all
failures. If no failures occur, the product passes – unlike HALT, HASS is
a pass/fail test.
HASS stress levels are less than
those used in HALT, but are generally more severe than anticipated in
actual service. The goal is to use
enough stress to find faults without
removing a significant amount of the
product’s life.
This consists of running the desired
HASS process 15 to 30 times to
verify that the screen is not removing
excessive life from the product.
By performing the proof of screen
successfully it is determined that the
HASS profile will not remove more
than 1/15th of the product’s life.
Common defects revealed through
HASS may include soldering problems, component failures, incorrect
components, timing problems, IC
Process change, IC Process problem, bent IC leads, electrical tolerance, mechanical tolerance and
raw board problems.
Other uses for HALT chambers
HALT Chambers are the perfect tool
for returned products having failures
that are hard to expose. Returned
products are valuable because they
contain a flaw.
Temperature and vibration testing in
a HALT chamber can often find these
failures.
Testing will begin with the HASS
profile determined to be the most
effective during the Proof of Screen
(POS) process. POS is a process
showing that a screen does not
damage good hardware and that the
screen is effective in finding the
defects present in a product.
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Star SeriesTM Galaxy
Galaxy 28/36/44
Integrated Pneumatic Vibration
Table & Temperature Test
Chamber HALT/HASS System
The Star Galaxy™ HALT/HASS Systems are integrated Test Chamber/
Vibration Table packages.
The Star Galaxy chambers are
equipped with a Liquid Nitrogen
(LN2) cooling system, which provides the rapid thermal change rates
required to achieve maximum product stress.
The Galaxy system efficiently delivers high velocity conditioned air to
the test space for unmatched temperature cycling performance.
Our adjustable air flow package
allows the user to redirect and concentrate airflow to the product under
test for maximum product temperature cycling stress.
Galaxy system rapid thermal change
rates are accomplished with smaller
space requirements, lower audible
noise, no water requirement, lower
maintenance costs and greater efficiency than a typical refrigeration
system.
The vibration table is a state-of-theart, six degree-of-freedom (6DoF) triaxial pneumatic vibration table. A
benefit of its patented unique proprietary construction, this vibration
table has one of the most consistent
acceleration levels per unit area of
any table presently on the market.
The unique control system gives the
user the flexibility to control via one
accelerometer or any combination of
four accelerometers. The “brains” of
the Galaxy System is the powerful
StarView Software.
An exclusive diagnostic and debugging Component Control Option is
available to enhance each of the
Galaxy models.
Function air space system
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Star SeriesTM Galaxy
Component Control
Diagnostic/Debugging Option for
the Galaxy HALT/HASS Systems
During HALT testing, test engineers
must perform temperature step
stress tests on products until failures
occur. Certain components may limit
the engineer’s ability to test beyond
a temperature extreme.
With the dynamic Component
Control feature, you can keep these
limiting components at an ambient
temperature in order to continue
temperature stress step testing
beyond the point where testing
would normally cease.
The Component Control feature
includes a separate controller and
thermocouple. With staged heating
and a proportional control valve,
Component Control provides accurate temperature control to allow
testing to continue beyond normal
product limitations. Flexible ducting
allows this optional feature to be utilized on a wide variety of products.
The component control option provides you with a “second chamber” using its own
controller, thermocouple, heaters and cooling system. We typically locate the
“second chamber” on top of your HALT system.
Component Control
Installation Component Control
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Star SeriesTM
Star 28/36/44
Pneumatic Vibration Table
The heart of the Star Galaxy System
is the Star pneumatic vibration table
which produces quasi-random, six
degree-of-freedom (6DoF) – three
linear (X, Y, Z) and three angular (roll,
pitch and yaw) – vibration accelerations in the frequency range of 5 Hz
to 10 kHz. The table can deliver
axis-specific vibration levels in a
range from 2 gRMS to greater than
60 gRMS.
Due to its patented unique proprietary construction, this vibration table
produces very consistent acceleration levels per unit area. The benefit
of this is that multiple products
tested on the table will all receive
almost identical vibration forces,
regardless of where they are mouted
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to the table. This is not true of most
other vibration tables.
Due to his movability, the table can
be used independently from the
chamber.
Table acceleration level can be
monitored and controlled via a triaxial accelerometer block (X, Y and
Z axis) or via single Z-axis control.
Use of tri-axial control/monitoring
provides a much more accurate indication of the overall vibration levels
your product is experiencing, compared to the Z-axis-only control
used by some manufacturers.
The Star Series tables are equipped
with an Airfloat™ pneumatic glide
system. The table virtually floats when
the pneumatic glide is activated,
making it very easy to maneuver the
table in and out of the chamber.
Raising and lowering the table is so
easy you can literally do it with one
finger.
Function Vibration Table
Vibration Test Systems
Temperature and climatic test systems Series VTV/VCV
Stress Screening with vibration,
temperature and climate
In case of demanding vibration tests
– that require temperature change
rates of up to 25 K/min. or the simulation of climatic conditions – it is
possible to combine the Star Vibration Table with our VTV or VCV vibration systems. Random vibrations are
among the most effective methods
of Environmental Stress Screening
(ESS). Temperature and climate
have an influence on the vibration
behaviour of tested materials, therefore, both constant and cyclically
alternating temperatures and climates are of central importance for
vibration and random tests.
For supplying/measuring connection
to your modules/devices thermally
decoupled entry ports fitted into the
chamber side walls can be utilized.
The test chamber with its vapourtight welded stainless steel container
can be turned into a fully functional
climatic test chamber with the help
of exchangeable floor elements.
The design of our special seals for
doors, floor elements and vibrator
ducts are based on decades of
experience.
application, ensures rapid temperature cycles and a high heat compensation.
This ensures consistent temperature
conditioning for the specimen along
with minimum deviations in temperature distribution.
Further information is available in
our brochure on temperature and
climatic test chambers of series VTV
and VCV and on our website
www.voetsch.info
The optimized airflow, which has
been specially developed for this
The proven results obtained from the
temperature and climatic test systems form the basis for our high
quality standard.
Temperature cycling
Random vibration
High temperature
Electrical stress
Thermal shock
Sine vibration, fixed frequency
Low temperature
Sine vibration, sweep frequency
Combined environmental
Mechanical shock
Humidity
Acceleration
Altitude
Weighted Rank
Effectiveness of different environmental screening methods
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StarView
StarView-Software
Temperature and Vibration
Control and Analysis
StarView is a user-friendly Microsoft
Windows™-based operating system
that provides easy “point and click”
program writing. The test profile is
drawn on a graph as the program is
written, allowing the user to check
for errors as work progresses. Ideal
for creating custom HALT tests and
HASS Profiles.
Test Chamber Control
The StarView software works in conjunction with a Watlow F4 chamber
controller to monitor the air temperature. Used to monitor HALT Hot/
Cold Stress Step Test. Fourteen
additional thermocouples and Thermocouple Patch Bridge are included
with the Star Galaxy Deluxe and
Premier Models.
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Vibration Table Control
Auto Spectrum
The StarView software also controls
the repetitive shock shaker table.
The vibration gRMS level can be
driven by the X, Y or Z-axis; or by an
average of the three values. Used to
monitor HALT Vibration Stress Step
Test. The unique StarView Control
Software allows you to control from
a single axis or from an average of
multiple axes. Star Galaxy Deluxe
and Premier models include one
additional four-channel vibration
system input module with cables
(customer to supply additional
accelerometers).
The vibration waveform is captured
and the fast Fourier transform applied, resulting in the PSD graph
which shows where the vibration
energy lies in the spectrum. The
resonant frequency of the Star
Galaxy vibration table is tuned to the
optimal frequency range for small
electronics components, typically
between 900 and 2600 Hz.
Vibration Waveform
A histogram of the acceleration
vs. time shows the actual vibration
g-levels that were reached on the
table during that period. Peak spikes
as high as 10X the indicated g-level
can be shown in the histogram.
Technical data
Type
Star Galaxy 28
Standard
Test space volume
Temperature range
Heating / Cooling performance max.
Deluxe
Star Galaxy 36
Premiere Standard
Deluxe
Star Galaxy 44
Premiere Standard
Deluxe
ltr.
1230
1680
2330
°C
-100 to +200
-100 to +200
-100 to +200
70
70
70
K/min.
Premiere
Vibration table performance (standard)*
Max. gRMS z-axis
Frequency range
Test space dimensions
Table dimensions
Hz
60
60
60
5 – 10.000
5 – 10.000
5 – 10.000
W
mm
965
1220
1370
D
mm
1145
1295
1370
H
mm
1120
1065
1245
W
mm
710
915
1120
D
mm
710
915
1120
8
12
16
mm
760
760
760
Numbers of pneumatic actuators
Shaker table access height
Exterior dimensions
Instrument console
exterior dimensions
W
mm
1790
1790
2085
2045
2045
2335
2195
2195
2490
D
mm
1475
1475
1475
1625
1625
1625
1700
1700
1700
H
mm
2595
2595
3005
2615
2615
3025
3200
3200
3225
W
mm
610
610
610
D
mm
865
865
865
H
mm
1755
1755
1755
Shipping dimensions
W
mm
2045
2045
2335
2300
2300
2590
2450
2450
chamber
D
mm
1725
1725
1725
1880
1880
1880
1955
1955
1955
H
mm
2775
2775
3180
2795
2795
3200
2995
2995
3405
Shipping weight
kg
1800
Power supply requirements
Rated power
Rated current
2090
2745
2250
3/N/PE AC 400 V 10 % 50 Hz
kW
68
90
100
A
105
135
150
Compressed Air Supply Requirements
Air pressure min.
Max. air consumption at max. gRMS
bar
l/min
8
8
8
2100
2800
4200
Liquid Nitrogen Supply Requirements
Pressure min.
Max. consumption
bar
4
4
4
l/min
23
42
53
* Vibration table performance can be increased up to 100 gRMS z-axis.
Subject to technical changes. Some devices are illustrated with options.
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Environmental Simulation
Beethovenstraße 34
72336 Balingen-Frommern
Germany
Telefon +49 74 33 303-0
Telefax +49 74 33 303-4112
info@v-it.com · www.voetsch.info
Quality without limits
DKD-K-19501
ISO/IEC 17025
We are the competent partner in environmental test technology. Besides
our comprehensive standard program we plan, design and build tailormade solutions for you in every desired version, and we do this worldwide.
You can find further information and representatives worldwide at
VIT-E 5/14 2M 02.11 N WD
www.voetsch.info